Fashion businesses cry for tax cut to recoup unwarranted losses

Fashion houses Saturday placed four-point demands, including reduction of the 5.0 per cent VAT on their clothing items to 2.0 per cent, for recouping the losses they incurred due to political turmoil.
In a post-Baishakh press conference held at the Fashion Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh (FEAB) office, the leaders of the fashion world claimed to have bagged sales worth about Tk 16.50 billion during this Baishakh festival, which is 10 per cent higher than previous year's.
Last year, the fashion sales fetched Tk 15 billion by their count.
FEAB president Azharul Haque Azad briefed the journalists about their gains from the Baishakhi bonanza and the losses they had counted for violent politics during the immediate-past spells of blockade and strikes over election issues.
The association demanded short-term festival bank loans for the fashion houses, checking illegal influx of foreign dresses, and stopping sale of saris, salwar- kamiz and punjabis at households or hotels by bringing those illegally by dodging tax.
Such action, they said, is an imperative for "saving the local fashion industry".
The association claimed that it would require three years to compensate for the losses the industry had incurred over the past couple of months.    
Mr Azad said local fashion industry had been hit by the continuous political unrest and violence for the last three months, which forced them to count about Tk 10 billion in lost business.
Weaving, crafts and handicrafts industries have been imperiled because of the situation.
"After the crisis, Baishakh brought relief for us as the last five days of Bengali New Year sales constitute about 60 per cent of the total sales of the season," he said.
But the process of hanging the condemned convicts of wartime "crimes against humanity" and the follow-up hartal hampered the process.
Besides, there was lack of preparation for Baishakh due to political crisis, said Mr Azad.
"This effect will continue until Eid-ul-Fitr. But the positive side is that there was more sale of local dresses because of less import of foreign dresses due to political unrest," he said about what is seen as a blessing in disguise.
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